Like it or not, Instagram has become a legitimate tool for photographers, and incorporating it into your business toolkit can get your work in front of more eyes and increase your client and inquiry influx. This informative video will show you some pitfalls to avoid when using the app.
Coming to you from Sorelle Amore, this helpful video will introduce you to common Instagram mistakes and how to avoid making them. Probably the most salient for me was including meaningful and descriptive captions in your posts. This can be easy to overlook; after all, Instagram is a photo-sharing app, not a freeform writing platform, but I've found consistently even on my little personal account that photos with captions provoke viewers into commenting and starting a discussion, and not only does this foster more loyalty from your followers by deepening their connection to you, it also increases your engagement, and in the unfortunate age of the algorithm, that'll help to push your work higher. Consistency is also very important if you're looking to build a readily identifiable style and brand, so be sure to put some careful thought into what your account will look like before you really get it up and running. Check out the video above for more!
Lead image by Jeremy Levin, used under Creative Commons.
It’s really annoying seeing almost every post on FStoppers lately be a essentially a link to a video with no real summary. Not all of us have time to watch a bunch of videos when a speed read of an article would do
He's probably using an RSS feed service or something to get relevant content to him and then spit it back out with his own wording to keep his content going out on a regular basis. It's non stop with everyone anymore.
Three things:
1. We post 3-5 original articles a day: https://fstoppers.com/originals
2. The reason we don't do that is because I believe that's plagiarism. If you give away the content of the video to the point that it's no longer necessary to watch it, you're robbing the video's creator of the views they earned through the hard work in creating that video and passing off the work as your own. That's why we do our best to help you decide if the video is something you would personally like and should therefore watch but don't transcribe its contents.
3. Try watching the videos at 2x speed. I do that for all instructional videos and love it.
Just reduce the number of videos. I'd much rather read an article because it means
1) I can just skim/skip the preamble and parts that aren't relevant
2) I can consume it anywhere without annoying people near me with audio
3) If watching these videos on 2x is really viable then obviously they need some more editing to make them 1/2 as long
4) I'm sad to say this increase in videos just means I spend a lot less time on FStoppers. "Wow, that looks like it's an awesome topic; too bad it's a video." <skip> :(
As to #2 - simply ask. If they consent, not plagiarism. It is a longer production curve but could prove mutually beneficial. For me, I will rarely ever watch the videos, but if I were to scan and find the written content useful, I am far more likely to check them out on youtube and even subscribe.
ive been thinking this same thing for weeks now. I dont think Alex post any Original content at all. Just reposting others content.
I’ve actually written around 150 original articles.
Alex I've noticed lately that most of the stuff you post is a link to a video. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything and I know you have written full articles too. But lately it seems like video after video after video. Sometimes it is nice to read an article with photos instead of a video. I can go directly to YouTube and find the videos without having to come to FStoppers. I want FStoppers to provide more meat to the topic and use the video as the side dish, not the main item.
Douglas, part of our purpose is culling the best content from around the web, both because people can trust us as a source that can objectively evaluate the quality of educational content and because 99 percent of people don’t want to spend the sort of time I do going through 200 YouTube channels a day. As I said, we also have a lot of original content at the link I provided above, and the vast majority of the feedback on both original articles and reposts such as these is positive.
Alex I understand that part FStoppers is a collection of content from around the web and I'm not saying the use of videos is wrong or shouldn't be done. My point, and I believe the point of some others, is that lately it seems there is an over abundance of "articles" that are simply links to videos. I've read your articles and I enjoy reading them. I would like to see more of that and less of articles that are a video link and a paragraph by you. Expand on the content of the video. Don't just summarize the video in a paragraph. Add content to the video by writing an article that expands on the topic. Give us your input on the subject. You have shown, and others at FStoppers have shown, that they can provide great written content. I would just like to see a little more of that.
Alex, I just went back through the home pages and between May 9th and today all of your articles have been links to videos. The first article I found was a notice that the D750 has a $500 discount. And that really wasn't much of an "article". Again I'm not trying to be a jerk but I think you are starting to mail it in as far as content. FStoppers has always been a good place for quality content and I'd hate to see it decline because of the lack of effort from their contributors. You are not the only one doing the video link thing so if Lee or Patrick are reading this PLEASE consider cutting down on the articles that are basically links to other people's videos. I do love the original FStoppers video that you guys put together.
If Lee and Patrick are looking for original content I'm willing to provide content.
Sorry you feel that way. If you’re interested in writing for us, you’re welcome to message me, Douglas Turney.
In defense of Alex, I love reading his more in-depth articles, but without his summaries and links to videos, I would have missed out on some great photographers. His links to videos from Thomas Heaton, Nigel Danson, Simon Baxter and others have given me hours upon hours of joy, and introduced me to kindred spirits.
Thank you, Jeff. While they’re all bigger names now, I pride myself on finding quality YouTubers who people likely wouldn’t see otherwise.
Jeff I agree with you, I too enjoy reading Alex's more in-depth articles. And yes some of the articles with videos are fine too. It just seems there are less and less of the good in-depth articles and more and more video posts.
I agree too! Every article isn't an article, it's just a video with a paragraph attached. I like to read FStoppers at work during lunch but videos are blocked.
You like to read by watching videos? There are a lot of original articles on FS. Maybe there's something you haven't read yet that was posted a long time ago.
Just double the playback speed of the video :P
Not really much useful info here. This person likes Instagram to be clean and organized, and I'm sure there are others like her, but that's not really helpful. This is just a video explaining what she likes. There's no data or examples to support any of it. It's just her talking.
/r/FellowKids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gazNwzC4H0
Thanks Alex again for the feature. I appreciate it very much. Super nice to have your work shared for the world to see. You're the best! :)
Alex, it's interesting that I also came to the comments to please ask for less YouTube linked articles. Funny because most of the comments are regarding the same feelings. I love that you want to protect the creators video and not "plagiarize" the content. But I and others value you and fstoppers.com opinions and take on the industry. Yes I love a good video. But I feel let down when I see just a link article. Maybe it's something to consider that it might be hurting the perception of fstoppers.com? Yes you do post original content, but that doesn't mean the video link articles feel like a let down. Maybe there is a way to share your opinions or insights on the video link articles that give the video more substance? Maybe add more then one of Instagram 101 videos and discuss current trends? It just seems like a cop out to only post a link. That is not why I love your articles and fstoppers.com. Don't take it as an attack, take it as we crave more amazing articles from our beloved fstoppers
Would prefer to see a text article rather than video. Something I can read on and reflect on, rather than trying to follow a video where a speaker (in this case, for example) is talking so fast that it does not leave any time to digest the info.